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CONSTITUTION 



BY-LAWS 



Jj3t)iialatl)ctan Sacietg. 




ITHACA: 
, UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
1871. 



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CONSTITUTION 



BY-LAWS 



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ITHACA: 

UNIVERSITY PRESS. 

1871. 



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HISTORICAL. 



The Philalatheian Society was founded in October, 
1868, soon after the opening of the University. The date of 
its existence is thus closely identified with that of our Alma 
Mater. 

During the first college year its meetings were held at Cas- 
cadilla Place. Afterward they were held for a time at Dem- 
ing Hall. The Society continued to gradually increase in 
strength and membership, and at the close of the second year 
('69-' 70) it was enabled, through the munificence of President 
White and the contributions of its members, to furnish, in con- 
nection with the Irving Literary Society and the Christian 
Association, a large hall in the North University building. 
"This Hall," said President White, "will become a perma- 
nent home for the three societies," and on the evening of June 
7th, 1870, in behalf of the University authorities, he duly 
transferred it to their control. 

The Philalatheian Society became chartered in May, 1871. 



CONSTITUTION. 



PREAMBLE. 

We, the undersigned, students of The Cornell Univer- 
sity, to promote general information, and to improve our- 
selves in the practice of public speaking, do agree to abide by 
and sustain the following Constitution and By-Laws. 

ARTICLE I. 

NAME. 

This organization shall be called the Philalatheian Soci- 
ety. 

ARTICLE II. 



Section i. The Society shall consist of active, retired and 
honorary members. 

§ 2. Any resident student of The Cornell University may 
become an active member upon election by a two-thirds' vote 
of the members present at any regular meeting, and the pay- 
ment of initiation fee and term dues. 

$ 3. Any active member, not in debt to the Society, discon 
necting himself from the University, shall hereby become a 
retired member, and while such shall not be required to pay 
Society dues. But if he reenter the University he shall again 
become an active member of this Society. 

§ 4. Any person not a student of The Cornell University 
may become an honorary member by election by a three- 
fourths' vote of the members present at any regular meeting. 

ARTICLE III. 

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. — THEIR NUMBERS AND DUTIES. 

Section i. The officers of this Society shall consist of a 
President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. 



PHI LA LA THE] AN SOCIETY. 5 

§ 2. The officers of this Society shall constitute a Board of 
Managers. 

§ 3. The duties of the President, Vice-President and Secre- 
tary shall consist of such general duties as are laid down in 
Cushing's Manual, and such special duties as the Society may 
from time to time impose on them. 

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to receive and dis- 
burse all monies of the Society ; to keep an accurate account 
with each individual member ; to make a report of the finan- 
cial condition of the Society at the end of his term of office 5 
and to perform such other duties as the Society may from time 
to time direct. 

§ 5. It shall be the duty of the Board of Managers to have 
general care and oversight of all property belonging to the So- 
ciety, and to perform such other duties as the Society may 
from time to time direct. 

§ 6. There shall be standing committees on finance, mem- 
bership, and questions, consisting of three members each. 

% 7. The Committee on Finance shall audit all bills 
referred to it, and report thereon. 

§ 8. The Committee on Membership shall make personal 
inquiry into the fitness of all applicants for active membership, 
who may be referred to it, and report thereon. 

§ 9. The Committee on Questions shall report suitable 
questions for discussion. 

ARTICLE IV. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

Section i. The officers of this Society shall be elected by 
ballot, at the last regular meeting of each term; and a major- 
ity of all votes cast shall be necessary to a choice. 

ARTICLE V. 
discipline. 

SectiOxN I. Any member of this Society may be fined, sus- 
pended or expelled by a two thirds' vote of the members pres- 



6 BY-LAWS OF THE 

ent at any regular meeting ; but charges must be preferred one 
week previous, and opportunity must be given to the member 
to appear in his own defense. 

§ 2. Any officer of this Society may be impeached and tried, 
under the same restrictions as are provided in section one. 

ARTICLE VI. 

AMENDMENTS. 

Amendments' may be made to this Constitution by a two- 
thirds' vote of the members present at any regular meeting : 
provided, such amendments shall have been referred to a spe- 
cial committee, at least two weeks previous to the time of 
action thereon. 



BY-LAWS. 

ARTICLE I. 

MEETINGS. 



Section i. The regular meetings of this Society shall take 
place upon the evening of each Saturday of the academic year. 

§ 2. Special meetings shall be called by the President and 
Secretary upon request of five members. 

ARTICLE II 

QUORUM. 

Twelve active members shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business ; and if at any time the number of active 
members shall be less than eighteen, then two-thirds of all 
the active members of the Society shall constitute a quorum 
for the transaction of any business. 



PHI LA LA THE1A N SO CLE TV. 7 

ARTICLE III. 

FEES AND TAXES. 

Section i. The initiation fee shall be one dollar. 

§ 2. Each active member shall pay a term-tax of fifty cents. 

§ 3. An additional tax may be levied by a two-thirds' vote 
of the members present at any regular meeting. 

§ 4. The Secretary shall furnish, in writing, the names of 
all new members, to the Treasurer, who, after collecting dues, 
shall return to the Secretary for enrollment. 

§ 5. Any member entering during the first half of the term 
shall pay full term dues, and those entering during the last half 
of the term shall pay one-half of the term dues. 

§ 6. The Treasurer, at the meeting nearest to the middle of 
each trimester, shall report to the Society the names of all 
members who have failed to pay their dues, and such members 
shall cease to hold the right of suffrage in the society till all 
dues are paid. The names of those members who have paid 
their dues shall also be read before the society, and the 
names of those who have not shall be re-read from time to 
time as the Society may direct. 

ARTICLE IV. 
literary exercises. 

Section i. The Literary Exercises of this Society shall con- 
sist of Chronicles, Orations and Debates, which shall take 
place in the order named. 

% 2. At every regular meeting, the President shall appoint 
a Chronicler, Orator and four Debaters, two upon each side, 
who shall perform their duties two weeks from date of appoint- 
ment. 

§ 3. Questions for debate shall be chosen by the Society two 
weeks previous to their discussion. 

§ 4. Appointed disputants shall be allowed to speak twelve 
minutes each ; volunteers, eight minutes. 



8 RULES. 

ARTICLE V. 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

The Order of Business shall be as follows : — 
Reading of Minutes, 
Regular Business, 

Reports of Officers and Committees, 
Unfinished Business, 
New Business. 

ARTICLE VI. 

RULES AND ORDERS. 

Section i. Motions, to lay on the table, for the previous 
question, and to adjourn, shall be decided without debate. 

} 2. " Cushing's Manual " shall be the guide of this Society 
in all matters of parliamentary practice. 

ARTICLE VII. 

SUSPENSION AND AMENDMENTS. 

Section i. Any By-Law may be suspended by a two-third's 
vote of the members present at any regular meeting ; but for 
one evening only. 

§ 2. Any addition or amendment to these By-Laws shall re- 
quire a two-thirds' vote of the members present at any regular 
meeting. 



RULES. 



The following rules of most frequent use have been taken 
from " Cushing's Parliamentary Practice," which authority has 
been adopted to govern the action of this Society. A slight 
modification has been made in some rules to better adapt them 
to our use. 



RULES, 9 

MOTIONS. 

When a question is under debate no motion shall be re- 
ceived, except 

1. To adjourn ; 

2. To lay on the table ; 

3. For the previous question ; 

4. To postpone to a day certain ; 

5. To commit ; 

6. To amend ; 

7. To postpone indefinitely ; 

which several motions shall have precedence in the order in 
which they are named. 

Adjournment is a privileged question, and is always in order 
when no person has the floor ; except, if once negatived, it 
cannot be made again until after the transaction of some fur- 
ther business. 

The motions to lay on the table, and for the previous ques- 
tion, do not usually admit of amendment or debate.* 

If the motion is simply " to adjourn," according to the rules 
of most legislative bodies in this country, it must be put with- 
out debate or amendment; but if to the motion to adjourn 
there is added a time or place, it maybe debated and amended 
like any other question. 

A motion for the previous question isjised in this country to 
suppress debate on a principal question, when further discus- 
sion seems impropor or unnecessary. It is given in this form: 
"Shall the mam question be now put?'''' If decided in the 
affirmative that question is to be put immediately, without any 
further debate, and in the form in which it then exists. 

The operation of a negative decision is different in different 
assemblies. The following is the practice of the New York 
Assembly, and we establish it as our rule : A negative decision 
of the previous question shall leave the main question under 
debate, as it was before that motion was made. 



* " Where there is no rule to the contrar)', all questions are debatable " 
-Gushing' s Manual, § 209, f " 330. 



io RULES. . j 

A motion, when regularly made, seconded, and announced 
from the chair, is then in the possession of the Society, and 
cannot be withdrawn or modified by the mover, if objection is 
made, except by leave of the Society obtained by a motion and 
vote in the usual way. 

COMMITTEES. 

Committees are of two kinds, Select and Standing. Select 
Committees are charged with some special matter which they 
are to consider, either with or without previous instruction, 
and to report thereon when the business is finished, or at a 
time specified. Standing Committees have in charge general 
business, and report thereon from time to time as they may be 
required. 

Reports Of Committees must be in writing. When called 
upon to make a report, the Chairman of the Committee, or the 
member appointed for the purpose, rising in his place, reads 
the report, which may then be received by the Society without 
a motion if not objected to; but if objection is made, a motion 
is necessary. When received, the report must be handed to 
the Secretary at the table ; it then lies on the table until taken 
up for consideration. The Presiding Officer may, and should 
decline receiving, without a motion and vote, any report in 
which informality is evident, or which is deficient in a careful 
consideration of the business assigned to the Committee. 

The Report of a Select Committee being received, either 
with or without a motion, the Committee is disolved, and can 
act no more without a new power. 

When the final Report of a Standing Committee is made 
and received, that committee also is dissolved. 



MEMBERS. 



L. H. Barnum, 
A. H. Sewell, . 
S. Smith, 
E. G. Donaldson, 

R. G. H. Speed, 
S. F. Huntley, 
R. O. Kellogg, 
S. F. Belknap, 
P. C. J. DeAngelis, 

C. A. Storke, 
T. S. Woodruff, 

D. H. McMillan, 
A. P. Houghtaling, 
J. G. Newkirk, 

T. Sanderson, 

D. E. Kohler, 

R. H. Lockwood, 
G. C. Morehouse, 
Andrew, Pelachin, 

E. E. Quinlan, 

D. W. Rhodes, 
T. J. McConnon, 
M. Brokaw, 

H. Farquhar, 

E. E. McElroy, 
I. L. N. Heroy, 
J. C. Hendrix, 
C. Finster, 

W. H. Smith, 
C. B. Bradley, 



President. 

Vice-President. 

Treasurer. 

Secretary. 



R. Leavitt, 

D. S. Jordan, 
G. A. Benton, 
W. S. Barnard, 
J. L. Maxwell, 

0. F. Williams, 
C. F. Hendryx, 
C. H. DuBois, 
G. R. Jones, 

C. E. Reeves, 

E. O'Garro, 
W. C. Albro, 
Edward Everett, 

C. D. Page, 
G. W. Crafts, 
E. D. Jackson, 
K. T. Friend, 
E. Nicholl, 
J. W. Ritch, 

1. E. Clark, 

J. D. Griffiths, 
M. Conklin, 
M. B. Anderson, 
E. M. Howard, 
M. C. Johnston, 
E. P. McLean. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 923 176 8 



